On two occasions while in Venice, Fallon and I visited the home studio of Enrico Orlando Martina. He is located near our hotel and we enjoyed meeting him and seeing his process of making art using several mediums. We spied his open door down a narrow alley and were tempted to enter when we saw his paintings in the window. Like me, he is schooled in architecture but spends his time making art. He is such a talent and swiftly illustrates local scenes like St. Mark's Basilica below, with a swish of his charcoal which he demonstrated for us as we carefully selected a piece to bring home. He gave us the sketch too!
I love to fill the walls of our home and my studio with art that I make, and art by others that makes me happy. Recently I scooped up some very handsome pieces by my friend Julie Prichard. She's loaded her Etsy shop with very affordable prints from her original paintings - these are amazing! Not only do I love her style, but the texture she achieves in the prints is stunning. It's like owning the real thing. Recently she added miniatures as soldered glass charms - great gift *hint*.